Honey Baklava

Try this easy Baklava recipe made with crispy phyllo pastry that's honey-soaked with our NY Wildflower Raw Honey. Enjoy it on its own with a cup of coffee or take it an extra step and mix it in a bowl with two scoops of vanilla ice cream! 

Ingredients

FOR THE SYRUP

• 600 g granulated sugar 
• 400 ml water 
• 1 cup of Astor Apiaries NY Wildflower Raw Honey
• 1 stick(s) cinnamon 
• 3 cloves 
• 2 oranges, each cut in half

FOR THE BAKLAVA

• 1 Phyllo pastry box, #5 (This can be found in a Greek or Turkish grocery store)
• 400 g butter, melted 
• 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of ground cloves
• 5 cups of walnuts (you can substitute with a nut mixture of pistachio, almonds, and hazelnuts)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees (you want it to slowly bake)
• Make the Honey Syrup first
• Stir the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat stove-top while stirring occasionally. Add the honey, the two halved oranges, the whole cloves and stir to mix. Bring the mixture to a boil and as soon as the sugar dissolves, remove the saucepan from heat and set aside for the mixture to cool down.
• Make the Filling
• Add the walnuts, ground cinnamon and ground cloves in a food processor and pulse a few times to chop, don't finely grind the mixture. Transfer the mixture a large mixing bowl.
• Assembling the Baklava
• Generously brush a 35x25 cm (somewhat deep) baking pan with melted butter.
• Take out the phyllo pastry from its box and carefully unroll it. Place the sheets in between two clean kitchen towels. This will help keep the phyllo from breaking while you work.
• Begin spreading carefully one phyllo dough in the pan to create the bottom crust. (You can typically fold the phyllo sheet in half if the whole sheet doesn't fit in the pan. You can also do a bit of trimming using a pair of kitchen shears)
• Repeat the same process with the second sheet of phyllo dough and then drizzle butter on the phyllo.
• Spread the third sheet of phyllo dough directly over the first two sheets.
• Sprinkle a handful amount of the filling, just enough that the phyllo is lightly covered with it.
• Spread another sheet of phyllo dough on the filling, making sure it is covering the filling and then drizzle butter over it.
• Repeat this process until you have 3-5 remaining phyllo dough left (depending how thick you want your top crust)
• Fold the overhanging ends of the phyllo over and drizzle with butter.
• Add half of the remaining sheets of phyllo folded in half, to fit nicely and exactly in the pan without any ends hanging over. Drizzle each one with butter. Spread the final sheet nicely over the top, covering the whole pan.
• Add any remaining butter over the top and you can brush it over the phyllo dough.
• Make sure to refrigerate 20 minutes to chill.
• Right before you place it in the oven, score the top with a sharp knife, creating diamond-shaped pieces. Don't score all the way down.
• Bake it for 2-3 hours until golden and super crunchy.
• As soon as you remove from the oven, immediately pour the cooled syrup all over the hot baklava. Make sure to throw out the halved oranges and cinnamon cloves before you pour the mixture.
• Let the baklava cool completely so all of the flakey layers can absorb the syrup.
• Cut through the marked pieces marked and its ready to serve!